Home and Away: Exile and Diaspora as Religious Concepts

Abstract

Posman offers a historical survey of the concepts of exile and diaspora in Jewish Studies and Comparative Religion. The chapter explores theological and ritual aspects of diaspora and exile in Judaism and then turns to expanded definitions of diaspora that transcend Jewish particularities. The chapter then reexamines historic Jewish diasporic communities that fit the more expanded definitions. Next comes a discussion of whether other world religions can be diasporas in themselves, and Sikhism, Hinduism, and Zoroastrianism are considered in this vein, as are Tibetan Buddhism and Cuban Catholicism. Finally, the chapter considers current transnational realities and asks whether actual communications with a homeland affect the imagined homeland that diasporas entail, and it looks at suggestions that Judaism itself may no longer be a diaspora.